![]() This is a rare, direct insight into what working for a large Japanese studio is like, and it doesn't paint a particularly good picture, though isn't that surprising. While coverage about how employees are treated at game development studios in the west has grown in recent years, the same can't be said of Japanese development studios, likely in large part because of the language barrier. ‘Balan Wonderworld’ Releases March 26th by Sage Ashford Square-Enix and Arzest (and Sonic creator Yuji Naka) have confirmed the release date of Balan Wonderworld, a new IP inspired by NiGHTS into Dreams. Naka didn't cover the results of the lawsuit however, only that he was allowed to talk about the situation now that it has been resolved. I don't think that Square Enix and Arzest value games and their fans." I wanted to consider all kinds of things and release it as a proper action game. "I personally regret that Balan Wonderworld was released to the world in an unfinished state. "I'm really disappointed that a product I worked on from the start turned out this way." Manage cookie settingsįinishing the thread, Naka noted that he believes the reception to Balan Wonderworld, which was generally pretty poor, had a lot to do with the events he described. Now that the proceedings are over and I’m no longer bound by company rules, I’d like to speak out.” #BalanWonderworld - Cheesemeister □□□□ ApTo see this content please enable targeting cookies. “I was removed as the director of Balan Wonderworld about half a year before release, so I filed a lawsuit against Square Enix. "From this point onward, I will be able to react to posts tagging me or directed only toward me on SNS and such." "Myself, I'm truly sorry to the customers who bought Balan Wonderworld in an unfinished state," continued Naka. As well as this, he apparently wasn't allowed to retweet or like posts to do with Balan Wonderworld, and apologised for not being able to. Naka also noted that the decision to remove him was made by the producer, the head of marketing, head of sound, the managing director, and HR. In an unexpected move, Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic The Hedgehog, has spoken about his treatment when directing widely panned 3D platformer Balan Wonderworld. ![]() "First, when a YouTuber's arranged piano performance of the game music was released in a promotion instead of the original game track, turning the composer into a ghostwriter, I insisted that the original track be released and this caused trouble," wrote Naka.įollowing on from this, Naka explained that the second reason was because of comments he made about "wanting to improve the game in the face of Arzest submitting the game without fixing bugs." The renowned developer noted that he thinks "it's wrong of Square Enix not to value games and game fans."Ĭontinuing the thread, Naka wrote that according to the court documents, he was removed for two reasons. Naka shared the news on his own Twitter account, where he also detailed the fact he filed a lawsuit against Square Enix, and that he's able to share all of this as the lawsuit has now concluded (translations by Cheesemesiter3K). Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has shared that Square Enix removed him as director of Balan Wonderworld six months before the game launched. Developed by Square Enixs Balan Company studio and led by Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog, Nights into Dreams, Phantasy Star Online) Balan Wonderworld is an. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to. Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Naka began his game development career at Sega, working as a programmer on acclaimed games like Space Harrier and Phantasy Star before taking a major creative role in Sonic the Hedgehog. ![]() The game is coming from Sonic Team co-founders Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima. IGN has contacted Naka and Square Enix for comment. Balan Wonderworld is an interesting beast, but I find its creators even more fascinating. Much remains unclear after Naka's departure, including what his next move will be, or what the fate of Balan Company and its other employees has been. IGN awarded the game a 4/10 review, saying that it "isn’t always an awful platformer, but it is a consistently boring one." After arriving in March, the game never cracked the top 20 best-selling games in the US, according to NPD reports, and SteamDB reports that the game reached a peak number of concurrent players the day after launch, with just 124. When the game arrived, it was critically panned, and has seemingly struggled commercially. Naka had previously told IGN that the game was his "one chance" to make a platformer for the publisher. Upon joining Square Enix, Naka had opened his own internal studio, Balan Company, to make Balan Wonderworld.
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